Best MacBook in 2022: Which Apple laptop is best?
From the MacBook Pro to the MacBook Air, we'll help find the best MacBook for your needs
The best MacBook for each person will differ, but there's a great option for virtually anyone in Apple's laptop lineup in 2022. Introducing its ARM-based M1 chip in 2020 kicked off a new era for Apple laptops. Apple's in-house SOC has brought massive performance and battery life improvements to the entire MacBook range.
In 2021 the high-end MacBook Pros got the same treatment with the 14-inch MacBook Pro and 16-inch MacBook Pro featuring M1 Pro and M1 Max chip options.
If you are on the fence about picking up an Apple laptop at all our macOS Monterey preview offers some insight into the operating system that comes with whichever of these excellent laptops you choose.
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What is the best MacBook?
Transforming from underpowered to one of the fastest ultrathin laptops around, the MacBook Air with M1 is the best Mac for most people. It's a turbocharger that has a familiar design with record-setting performance and all-day battery life. Along with speed and endurance boosts, the M1 chip brings iOS and iPadOS apps to Mac for the first time. With M1, there is little reason to look beyond the MacBook Air.
However, if you are someone that needs sustained high-level performance, opt for the MacBook Pro M1 13-inch with two Thunderbolt 3 ports. While the MacBook Air is fanless, the MacBook Pro has a traditional cooling system to run demanding programs for hours without worrying about overheating. Most people will be fine with the Air, but power users should up to the Pro. Like the MacBook Air, the MacBook Pro has an incredibly fast SSD and runs on Apple's gorgeous Big Sur OS or macOS Monterey if you want to try the latest.
The 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros are powered by the M1 Pro or M1 Max processor. Either option is overkill for most users, but they do feature some other tantalizing upgrades. These laptops walk back some of the controversial decisions Apple made with the MacBook Pro in 2016 with the return of an SD card slot, HDMI, and MagSafe charging and still boast three Thunderbolt 4 ports. The gorgeous 120Hz displays are the best Apple has ever offered in its laptops. Starting at $1,999 you are paying a serious premium for Apple's top-tier laptops, but if you need all this power or hated some of the hardware changes they are worth it.
Our advice? If you do basic productivity work even with a smattering of more taxing software, stick to the M1 Air and use the savings to upgrade your storage or RAM. Unless you need the extra screen real estate or frequently are using demanding software for video work, 3D modeling, animation, or engineering tasks, the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro.
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